Key holder



NOV. 23, 1954 K E 2,694,921

KEY HOLDER Filed Sept. 5, 1952 IN VENTOR. j/ MAX K ERHER United States PatentO KEY HOLDER Max Kerner, Bronx, N. Y.

Application September 5, 1952, Serial No. 307,949

4 Claims. (31. 70-456) The present invention relates to key holders.

More particularly the present invention relates to key holders which are made of a rigid material and which are adapted to removably enclose a number of keys.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a key holder of the above type which is of an extremely simple and rugged construction so that it is assured a long period of fault-free usage.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an efiicient and simple means for supporting keys for movement into and out of the key holder during use thereof.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an efiicient and simple means for placing keys into the key holder and for removing keys therefrom.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a key holder which prevents the keys from becoming loose in the same and inadvertently being separated therefrom.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a key holder constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the structure of Fig. 1 taken along line 22 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the key holder taken along line 33 of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the structure of Fig. 3 taken along line 44 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the structure of Fig. 1 taken along line 5'5 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown therein an outer casing for the key holder having a pair of parallel opposite sides 11 and 12 which are interconnected by a third side 13 normal to the sides 11 and 12 so that the casing 10 has opposite open ends and an open side. The wall 13 of the casing 10 is provided at its opposite ends with a number of tongues 14 which are bent backwardly toward the wall 13 on the inside of the casing 10. In the particular example illustrated, there are four tongues 14 at each end of the wall 13.

Associated with the casing 10 are, in the particular example illustrated, four guide members 15 each of which is also of a channel shape having a pair of opposite substantially parallel walls 16 and 17 which are interconnected by a third wall 18 normal thereto and being of substantially the same size as the walls 11 and 12, these walls 18 of the guide members 15 each being formed with a substantially central cutout or opening 19 to reduce the weight of the key holder. The side walls 17 of the guide members 15 have .a total width which is substantially equal to the width of wall 13, and the walls 16 of the guide members 15 are all narrower than the walls 17 thereof except at one end portion of the guide members where the walls 16 are formed with extensions 20 which are of substantially the same width as the walls 17 and which are inwardly bent at their free ends, as illustrated. These guide members 15 are located against each other within the casing 10 with all of the opposite side walls thereof extending in the same direction from wall 12 toward wall 11 and with the side walls 17 thereof located against the wall 13 of casing 10 between the same and tongues 14 so that the latter serve to fixedly connect the guide members 15 to the casing 10. It will be seen that this arrangement of the guide members 15 provides on each one thereof a free edge portion 21 extending from the extensions 20 all the way to the opposite end of the guide members and casing.

A plurality of slide members 22 which are made from one piece of material are respectively associated with the guide members 15. These slide members 22 each have a side 23 whose top edge 24 is located next to the inner side of a side wall 16 of the guide members 15, as is shown most clearly in Fig. 4, and the slide members 22 have rolled free ends 25 located against the outer side of these walls 16 of the guide members 15 so that the parts 24 and 25 of the members 22 cooperate with the walls 16, and in particular with the free edges 21 thereof, to slidably support the slide members 22 on the walls 16. c

As is apparent from Fig. 4, each slide member 22 rests against the outer side of the wall 18 of the guide member 15 next to that on which it is slidably mounted, except for the slide member 22 located at the right hand end of the structure, as viewed in Fig. 4, which rests against the inner side of wall 11. These slide members are also provided with bottom sides 26 located adjacent to the walls 17 of guide members 15 and being bent to form sides 23 and which are located opposite sides 27 of the slide members and which slide against the wall 18 of the guide member 15 on which a slide member 22 is mounted, so that these members are fully guided for movement along the key holder. As is most clearly shown in Fig. 2, the slide members 22 are spaced from the walls 17 of the guide members 15 by a distance slightly greater than the thickness of tongues 14.

Each of the slide members 22 is provided with an integral, outwardly pressed, annular projection 28 extending toward the wall 18 of the guide member 15 on which it is mounted and adapted to be located in the opening of a key such as key 29, shown in dot-dash lines, so that each slide member holds a key 29 between its opposite wall portions 23 and 27.

The entire assembly is further held together in a fixed relation by a pin 30 extending through the opposite walls 11 and 12 and through aligned openings of the guide members 15.

A pair of pivot pins 31 are fixed in any suitable way to the side walls 11 and 12 of casing 10, as by being threaded into threaded openings thereof, for example, a d these pins 31 turnably support a cover member 32 which is illustrated in its covering position where it closes the open ends of the guide members 15 at one end of the casing 10. The side walls 11 and 12 of the casing 10 are each formed with an outwardly pressed projection 33 one of which is seen from the inside of casing 10 in Fig. 2, and the cover 32 is formed with corresponding projections 34 which are outwardly pressed and which snap over the projections 33 to releasably hold the cover 32 in its closing position. It will be seen that this cover 32 has an edge portion 35 which is located over the walls 16 of guide members 15 when the cover 32 is in its closed position.

The above described structure may be made of any convenient rigid material, such as plastics, metal, or laminations of wood or fabric, or any combination of these materials.

The operation of the above described key holder is as follows:

When it is desired to place a key in the key holder, the cover 32 is turned away from the position shown in the drawings, the operator merely pressing the projections 34 from the snap projections 33. This uncovers the right hand open end of the casing, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, and the operator need only push against one of the free ends 25 of a slide member 22 to move the same along the edge 21 out of the casing 10 through the right end thereof, as viewed in Figs. l-3.

Then the projection 28 of the slide member 22 is placed Q or Within the opening of a key 29, and the latter together with the slide member 22 is moved into the space defined by the guide member from which the particular slide member 22 was removed, with the parts 24 and 25 of the slide member embracing the edge 21 of the slide member 15 and with the slide member 22 sliding against the outer side of the wall 18 of the next guide member 15. After the slide member 22 and the key therewith have been moved into the casing beyond the right end thereof, as viewed in Figs. 1-3, the cover 32 is returned to its illustrated position covering this end of the casing, the projections 34 snapping over the projections 33 to releasably hold the cover 32 in its covering position.

During normal use, the key 29 is moved through the open left end of the key holder, as viewed in Figs. 1-3, by sliding the slide members 22 along the edges 21 of the guide members 15, the operator merely moving the free ends 25 of the slide members 22 in order to effect this result. As is shown in Fig. 1, the extensions 2% limit the movement of the slide members 22 and the key therewith in one direction, while edge portion 35 of cover '32 limits the movement of the slide members 22, when moving the keys into the key holder, in the opposite direction.

It will be seen that the above described apparatus is quite simple. The keys are held within the key holder simply by the frictional contact of the slide member 22 with the guide members 15, and the slide members 22 are, on the other hand, easy to slide in either direction. No springs or other additional elements are required with the disclosed construction. It will also be noted that the keys are not held in position by any threaded members or the like which are likely to become loose, so that there is absolutely no risk of the keys becoming inadvertently separated from the key holder.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of key holders difiering from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in key holders made of a rigid material, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A key holder comprising, in combination, an outer channel-shaped casing having a pair of opposite parallel side Walls interconnected by a third side wall normal to said opposite side walls; a plurality of guide members each being of a channel shape and each having a pair of opposite parallel side walls interconnected by a third side wall normal to the same and of substantially the same size as said opposite Walls of said casing, said opposite walls of said guide members being narrower than said third side of said casing and one of said opposite walls of each guide member being narrower, except at one end portion thereof, than the other of said opposite walls of each guide member, and the total width of all of said other opposite walls of said guide members being substantially equal the width of said third side of said casing, said guide members being located against each other in said casing with said opposite side Walls of said guide members all extending in the same direction from one of said side walls of said casing toward the other of said side walls thereof and with said other opposite walls of said guide members fixedly located against said third side wall of said casing so that said one opposite walls of said guide members have free edges next to said one end portions thereof; a plurality of slide members equal in number to the number of guide members slidably mounted on said free edges of said one opposite walls of said guide members, being located within the latter and being limited in their sliding movement at one end of said casing by said one end portions of said one opposite walls of said guide members, each of said slide members having a projection extending toward the third s1de wall of the guide member on which it is mounted for supporting a key and being removable from said guide member at an end opposite said one end thereof, each of said slide members being formed from a single piece of substantially U-shaped material having one end extending along the guide member in which it is mounted and engaging said one opposite wall of said guide member on the inside thereof, and each of said slide members having an opposite end portion engaging said one opposite wall of the guide member on which it is mounted on the outside thereof; and a cover member turnably mounted on said casing for removably covering said opposite ends of said guide members.

2. A key holder, comprising, in combination, an elongated channel member having opposite open ends and consisting only of a pair of opposite parallel side walls interconnected by a third wall normal to said side walls and being substantially wider than the same, one of said side walls being as wide as the other of said side walls only at one end portion of said one side wall and the remainder of said one side wall being of a uniform width less than the width of said other side wall; a fourth wall coextensive with and fixed to said channel member, having a width equal to the width of said third wall of said channel member and being parallel to and located opposite said third wall, said fourth wall engaging said other side wall and said one end portion of said one side wall to provide with said channel member a tubular compartment of rectangular cross-section having opposite open ends and having a slot extending from one end of said compartment up to said one end portion of said one side wall and being located between said fourth wall and said remainder of said one side wall; a substantially U-shaped slide member located in said tubular compartment and having a pair of opposite legs interconnected by a web portion located adjacent said other side wall of said channel member, said legs respectively slidably engaging the inner faces of said third and fourth walls lo cated in the interior of said compartment, one of said legs extending up to said one side wall of said channel member and having a free edge slidably engaging the inner face of said one side wall located in the interior of said compartment, the other of the legs of said slide member extending through said slot to the exterior of said compartment and slidably engaging the outer face of said one side wall of said channel member, and said slide member having a projection located between said legs; and a cover member removably mounted on said tubular compartment at the end thereof opposite from said one end portion of said one side wall of said chan nel member.

3. A key holder, comprising, in combination, an outer channel-shaped casing having opposite openv ends and consisting only of a pair of opposite parallel side walls interconnected by a third side wall normal to said opposite side walls; a plurality of channel members coextensive with said casing and each having opposite open ends and consisting only of a pair of opposite parallel side walls interconnected by a third side wall normal to the same end of substantially the same size as said opposite side walls of said casing, said opposite side walls of said channel members being narrower than said third side of said casing and one of said opposite side walls of each channel member being narrower, except at one end portion thereof, than the other of said opposite walls of each channel member, and the total width of all of said other opposite walls of said channel members being substantially equal to the width of said third side of said casing, said channel members being located against each other in said casing with said opposite side walls of said channel members all extending in the same direction from one of said side Walls of said casing toward the other of said side walls thereof and with said other walls of said channel members fixedly located against said third side wall of said casing so that said one side walls of said channel members have free edges next to said one end portions thereof, whereby said channel members and easing cooperate together to form a plurality of tubular compartments of rectangular cross-section located next to each other and each having opposite open ends and a slotted portion extending up to said one end portions of said channel'rnembers; a slide member located in each of said compartments, extending through said slotted poi'ltiorfl thereof, and slidally eggaging said one opposite References Cited in the file of this patent wa 0 said c annel mem er t ereof; and a cover com" mon to said tubular comparments and located over the UNITED STATES PATENTS ends thereof distant from said one end portions of said Number Name Date one side walls of said channel members. 5 2,270,621 Brugnoni Jan. 20, 1942 4. A key holder as defined in claim 3 and wherein each 2,575,424 Mitchell Nov. 20, 1951 of said third walls of said channel members is formed 2,623,381 Queen Dec. 30, 1952 With a cut out and wherein said slide members respec- 2,634,994 Harrison Jr., et al May 12, 1953 tively have side wall portions extending across said cut outs and slidably engaging said third walls of said chan- 10 nel members. 

